Barcelona 0-0 Birmingham: Szczesny makes early save in first England friendly

Barcelona’s opening friendly of their tour of England remains goalless after Wojciech Szczesny produced an important early stop to deny Birmingham.

The match is part of Barcelona’s preparations for the new season, with the Spanish side beginning their series of friendly fixtures in England.

Szczesny was forced into action after 15 minutes when Birmingham created a dangerous opportunity. The Barcelona goalkeeper responded to keep the score at 0-0 and preserve the otherwise even start.

The teams had already traded attacking moves during the opening stages, with both sides looking to make an impression in the first friendly of Barcelona’s England tour.

At the ninth-minute mark, Adeyemi attempted a shot, but a Birmingham defender intervened to prevent the effort from troubling the team further.

The match began with attacks from both sides, although neither team had found a way through by the latest update. Barcelona and Birmingham were level at 0-0 as the game continued.

FilGoal.com is providing live coverage of the friendly, with updates from the match reported minute by minute.

Live updates

15 minutes: Szczesny saves Barcelona from a dangerous Birmingham chance.

Nine minutes: Adeyemi shoots, but a Birmingham defender comes to his team’s rescue.

Six minutes: Both sides exchange attacks.

Kick-off: Barcelona and Birmingham get the friendly under way.

Barcelona are using the fixture as part of their preparations for the coming campaign, while the match represents the opening game of their tour in England. The score remained 0-0 at the latest report.